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Turkish Press Review, 00-11-28
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
28.11.00
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] A NEW ROLE FOR TURKEY: DEMIREL IN THE MIDDLE EAST FACT-FINDING
COMMITTEE
[02] CHHIBBER: "TURKISH GOVERNMENT SHOWED ITS DETERMINATION TO
CONTINUE WITH ECONOMIC PROGRAM"
[03] SEZER VISITS IZGI
[04] MGK TO MEET TOMORROW
[05] OSCE SUMMIT IN VIENNA
[06] A NEW ROLE FOR TURKEY: DEMIREL IN THE MIDDLE EAST FACT-FINDING
COMMITTEE
[07] ONAL IN JAPAN
[08] DENKTAS' STATEMENT ON PROXIMITY TALKS
[09] FP TRIAL ON DECEMBER 12
[10] BALKAN MEDIA SUMMIT
[11] TUSIAD DELEGATION IN BRUSSELS
[12] LEADERS ATTEND ECONOMIC SUMMIT
[13] CHHIBBER: "TURKISH GOVERNMENT SHOWED ITS DETERMINATION TO
CONTINUE WITH ECONOMIC PROGRAM"
[14] FISCHER: "THE PROGRAM IS ON TRACK"
[15] PIERUZZI: "WE TRUST TURKEY'S FUTURE"
[16] FOGG: "AN EQUILIBRIUM IN DEVELOPMENT IS NECESSARY"
[17] UGEUX ON TURKCELL
[18] TREASURY RECEIVES 450 MILLION DOLLARS FROM THE SAMURAI MARKET
[19] KORFEZBANK RECEIVES LOAN FROM ABROAD
[20] BOEING WINS AWACS TENDER
[21] NUMBER OF RESCUE TEAMS INCREASES
[01] A NEW ROLE FOR TURKEY: DEMIREL IN THE MIDDLE EAST FACT-FINDING
COMMITTEE
[02] CHHIBBER: "TURKISH GOVERNMENT SHOWED ITS DETERMINATION TO
CONTINUE WITH ECONOMIC PROGRAM"
[03] SEZER VISITS IZGI
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer visited Turkish Grand National
Assembly (TGNA) Speaker, Omer Izgi yesterday. Mr. Sezer conveyed
his congragulations to Mr. Izgi upon his election as the TGNA
Speaker. /Hurriyet/
[04] MGK TO MEET TOMORROW
The National Security Council (MGK) will meet tomorrow under the
chairmanship of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The latest domestic
and foreign issues will be taken up during the meeting. /Turkiye/
[05] OSCE SUMMIT IN VIENNA
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Council of Ministers's Eighth Meeting began in Vienna yesterday.
The opening speech was given by Austrian Foreign Minister Benito
Ferrero Waldner. Representing Turkey at the meeting, Foreign
Minister Ismail Cem, met with Greek Foreign Minister George
Papandreou Sunday night. He also met with US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright, at a breakfast yesterday. Mr. Cem is expected
to meet with Dutch, Belgian, Danish, Finnish, British, Austrian,
Ukranian, Azerbaijani and Algerian Foreign Ministers. /Turkiye/
[06] A NEW ROLE FOR TURKEY: DEMIREL IN THE MIDDLE EAST FACT-FINDING
COMMITTEE
Turkey achieves a new regional and international role with former
President Suleyman Demirel's membership in the Middle Eastern
Fact-Finding Committee aimed at stopping the violence between
Palestinians and Israelis. The five-member committee held its
first meeting in New York. Mr. Demirel put forth some proposals
which would increase Turkey's role in the peace efforts.
Accordingly, two more Turkish officials will attend the next
meeting to be held in Turkey. Norway's Foreign Minister,
Thorbjorn Jagland, NATO former Secretary-General, Javier Solana,
former US Senator of Maine, George Mitchell, and former US
Senator, Warren Rudman, are the other members of the fact-finding
committee. At its first meeting, the committee met with the
representatives of the Palestinians and Israelis and requested a
"written statement" regarding the causes of the clashes.
/Milliyet/
[07] ONAL IN JAPAN
Recep Onal, the State Minister Responsible for the Economy, is
continuing meetings in Tokyo in addition to his participation in
the Turkish-Japanese Business Council's meeting. Yesterday, Mr.
Onal and his accompanying delegation met with Takashi Fujishima,
Deputy Chairman of the Sakura Bank, Nomura and Sony Companies'
executives. Today, they will meet with Chairman of the Japanese
Parliament Turkish Friendship Group, Kanezo Moraoka, authorities
from Marubeni Company and the Chairman of the Japanese Business
Council, Takashi Imai. Following these meetings, Minister Onal
will inaugurate the Turkish-Japanese Business Council's 12th
Joint Meeting which will last two days. /Turkiye/
[08] DENKTAS' STATEMENT ON PROXIMITY TALKS
President of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf
Denktas spoke about his possible return to the table of proximity
talks. Mr. Denktas said, "We cannot act as if the TRNC doesn't
exist. From now on, we will speak as the TRNC, as a state."
/Star/
[09] FP TRIAL ON DECEMBER 12
The case against the Virtue Party (FP) bringing about its closure
will be tried in the Constitutional Court on December 12. It was
stated that this trial would not last longer than one month. If
the FP is closed and the party deputies are cancelled, the
elections of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) will be
held again. /Aksam/
[10] BALKAN MEDIA SUMMIT
The conference titled, "New Media Technologies for the
Development of Cooperation in the Balkans" was held in
Thessalonika, Greece. Balkan news agencies, newspapers and
televisions executives came together and discussed their issues
and explored possibilities for better cooperation. /Turkiye/
[11] TUSIAD DELEGATION IN BRUSSELS
During contacts in Brussels, the Turkish Association of
Industrialists and Businessmen (TUSIAD) Foreign Relations
Commission, defended the opinion that 'the European Union (EU)
has to make some changes in its policies concerning Turkey so
this new phase can be successful. During the meeting organized
between the EU Commission's Turkish Desk Chairman, Alain
Serventie, and a group comprising responsible officials of
various Directorate-Generals of the candidate countries, and the
TUSIAD delegation yesterday morning, the TUSIAD officials
mentioned their expectations as follows; the EU should
systematically delineate its support for Turkey's Accession
Partnership Document in a constructive way through its rhetoric
during the enlargement process and before the international
public; EU policies should be constructive and in favor of
solution for Turkey during the process of Turkey's candidacy; the
EU should oppose any misinformation about Turkey; the EU should
increase financial cooperation to a level convenient with the
targets of the Accession Partnership Document; the EU should
reserve all financial cooperation funds for projects necessary to
bring Turkey into harmony with the EU; the EU should develop
additional financial leeway in the first years so Turkey can be
included in the EU cooperation program. /Aksam/
[12] LEADERS ATTEND ECONOMIC SUMMIT
The leaders of coalition parties met yesterday to discuss
economic issues. Prime Minister and Chairman of the Democratic
Left Party (DSP), Bulent Ecevit, Deputy Prime Ministers, Chairman
of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, Chairman
of the Motherland Party (ANAP) Mesut Yilmaz and State Minister
Husamettin Ozkan, Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp and
Central Bank Governor Gazi Ercel attended the meeting. It was
stated that general economic issues were discussed during the
meeting. /Turkiye/
[13] CHHIBBER: "TURKISH GOVERNMENT SHOWED ITS DETERMINATION TO
CONTINUE WITH ECONOMIC PROGRAM"
World Bank Turkey Director, Ajay Chhibber praised the
government's decision to enact the law regarding the
privatization of state-owned banks through first gaining
autonomy. Mr. Chhibber said, "This law is a great step in the
fiscal adjustment program. The Turkish government has showed its
determination in continuing with the program. We truly support
all efforts of the government." Mr. Chhibber, regarding the first
portion totaling $780 million of the Financial Structural
Adjustment Loans (FSAL) World Bank would give to Turkey, said the
loan negotiation would be made by year's end. /Milliyet/
[14] FISCHER: "THE PROGRAM IS ON TRACK"
IMF First Deputy Managing Director, Stanley Fischer, in his
statement on the IMF web site, said Turkey's stabilization
program is on track. Mr. Fischer said the IMF Executive Board is
expected to consider, in the third week of December, the
strengthened package of measure recently agreed to by the Turkish
authorities and the IMF staff. The disinflation and fiscal
adjustment program, launched by the Turkish government in late
1999, has achieved important results: inflation this year will be
the lowest since the mid-1980s; growth has picked up strength;
and the public debt, which was rising steaply in relation to
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year, is now falling.
/Milliyet/
[15] PIERUZZI: "WE TRUST TURKEY'S FUTURE"
The Europe Chairman of 3M (Minnesota, Mining and Manufacturing
Co.), Eduardo Pieruzzi, said Turkey was one of the most important
trade centers, not just for the region but for the whole world.
Stating that everbody was aware of Turkey's development
potential, Mr. Pieruzzi said, "Turkey is among those countries in
which many countries would like to invest. It has a young and
educated populace, a demand for development and a rapid
development rate." Mr. Pieruzzi emphasized Turkey's geopolitic
importance as a bridge between the West and the East. He added,
"We trust Turkey's future and will invest in Turkey." /Hurriyet/
[16] FOGG: "AN EQUILIBRIUM IN DEVELOPMENT IS NECESSARY"
EU Turkey representative Ambassador, Karen Fogg, said, "The
Turkish economy could compete with the economies of the developed
countries if and only if, it maintains an equilibrium in
developing education and health investments which should be
carried out all over the country." Stating the EU's financial aid
programs for Turkey concentrated on East and Southeast regions of
Turkey, Fogg said, "The EU had already given Euro 120 million aid
to Turkey for compulsory education. Another program totalling
Euro 55 million will be used in the Southeast region." /Star/
[17] UGEUX ON TURKCELL
The Deputy Chairman of the Wall Street NYSE, Georges Ugeux, said
Turkcell, which is the first Turkish company to be transacted in
the NYSE, has set an example for other companies. Georges Ugeux
came to Turkey to attend the first of a new series of economic
seminars organized by the Turkish Association of Industrialists
and Businessmen (TUSIAD). During his visit, he made some comments
to 'Aksam' daily and said, "I came to Turkey for the first time
while working for General Electric. During the last seven years,
I have observed the great changes in the profile of entrepreneurs
in Turkey. The entrepreneurs in Turkey think beyond the borders
and Turkish companies are managed in a modern manner. We see this
example most clearly with Turkcell. Turkcell is the first company
to open in the foreign markets. More importantly, other companies
can also enter through the door which they have opened. There are
the other companies in Turkey which have the same capacity and
which can follow Turkcell's path." /Aksam/
[18] TREASURY RECEIVES 450 MILLION DOLLARS FROM THE SAMURAI MARKET
450 million dollars was entered into the Treasury account from
the bonds export carried out on November 2 in the Japanese
Samurai market. The Treasury, which aimed at a foreign borrowing
of 6 billion US dollars in 2000, borrowed a total of 7.7 billion
US dollars from abroad. The Treasury could be able to borrow more
than it has paid for the first time since 1994 and entered the
year 2000 by extending the borrowing term to 30 years. /Sabah/
[19] KORFEZBANK RECEIVES LOAN FROM ABROAD
Korfezbank will sign an agreement of syndication loan amounting
to 100 million US dollars on December 1. The syndication was
organized by Dai-Ichi, Kangyo Bank, Bank of New York, Hypo
Vereinsbank, Standard Bank and Barclays. /Sabah/
[20] BOEING WINS AWACS TENDER
The Executive Board of the Undersecretariat for the Defense
Industry, chaired by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and the Chief
of the General Staff Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu, met yesterday to
finalize the AWACS bid. After the meeting, Mr. Ecevit said Turkey
would negotiate with the American Boeing Company, a $1.5 billion
contract for at least six AWACS aircraft to strengthen the
country's radar surveillance capabilities. Ecevit also said
Turkey will begin talks with Raytheon Corp., also of the US, if
the government fails to reach an agreement with Boeing. /Turkiye/
[21] NUMBER OF RESCUE TEAMS INCREASES
Istanbul Deputy Mayor and Chairman of Disaster Management Center,
Ali Cafer Akyuz said the number of rescue teams increased to more
than six thousand this year. There were only 250 teams last year.
He added, "In case of a possible disaster in Istanbul, 19 cities
are able to give us support." /Cumhuriyet/
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